Outsourcing your goods to another country is not the best idea. Products going overseas are out of a company’s control in so many ways. Turn-time issues, safety of workers, additional resources used to ship items back, and most importantly taking jobs away from American workers. These are just a few of the reasons. Record Pressing is keeping it local. All of our vinyl manufacturing is done here in California where we can keep a close eye on it and make sure we are not hiking up prices on an unnecessary journey overseas. One main reason we do this is our concern of safety practices of vinyl facilities in other countries. Laws in other countries are not always up to par with the U.S’s strong EPA regulations when it comes to producing vinyl records.

Another major factor is, child labor laws. The US is very strict about the age of persons working in a factory environment. Additionally there are major environmental concerns in working with non-US based factories that any thoughtful, responsible person/ company simply cannot support. A prime example of this concern are chemicals used in the process to make vinyl records. These can be transported with or without knowledge and into your home, because the product has not passed the vigorous safety baseline requirements that the US upholds on its own manufacturing companies.

If all this was not enough, the carbon footprint to ship a heavy product is much higher due to the additional transportation it will require. Of course on this journey the product will also potentially pickup export taxes and shipping costs, taking more money out of the hands of Americans.

So, why does it matter to shop local? We are still in a down economy when we need to support American companies. It supports our own music industry, keeps food on the table in America, keeps inflation lower, and our products safe. Though you may normally not think about this when pressing a record. This thought process should be a part of your day to day living, including when you press a record.

Record Pressing has been a leading force in the resurgence of quality vinyl record pressing services for over 14 years. We have been a leader in the industry in popularizing many new trends in an otherwise old business,